


Vengeance is a Drug and Everyone’s Addicted

by justabitconfused



Series: Out Like a Light [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, Dark Klaus Hargreeves, Gen, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Klaus Uses his Powers, Protective Allison Hargreeves, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Protective Luther Hargreeves, Protective Number Five | The Boy, Protective Vanya Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, his siblings try to help, they try to be a family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:08:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25912597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justabitconfused/pseuds/justabitconfused
Summary: His siblings are afraid of him. The Sparrow Academy want revenge. Klaus might fall too far into the darkness of his powers (and this time Ben’s light isn’t there to guide him out)Sequel to my oneshot ‘Promises Don’t Transcend Timelines But You Still Have To Pay’
Series: Out Like a Light [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880704
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	Vengeance is a Drug and Everyone’s Addicted

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! In case you didn’t notice, this is the sequel to a oneshot and it won’t make much sense if you don’t read that first. (It’s not long and I think it’s good! It’s the first in this series if you want to check it out :) )
> 
> People seemed to like it so... here’s the aftermath. I’m not sure how long it’s going to be but I have a rough plan for the plot. I don’t know if I’ll have an update schedule but if you’d like one let me know!  
> I hope you enjoy and I carry on the oneshot well enough :)

He was so lost in satisfaction -  
_(It_ _got_ _what_ _he_ _deserved_ _its_ _dues_ _were_ _paid_ _He_ _broke_ _a_ _promise_ _a_ _word_ _for_ _a_ _soul)_ -  
He barely heard the hoarse voice of one of his ~~remaining~~ siblings behind him. Whoever it was sounded like a scared child.

‘Klaus?’

* * *

His eyes flickered over them, searching subconsciously for who spoke. He was shaking slightly, like he did when he was coming down from a high, and his entire body was felt like it was buzzing with energy. He clasped his trembling hands to his chest as he turned around to face his siblings. They were all staring at him with varying degrees of horror.

Luther looked like he was trying not to throw up -  
_(which seemed kind of dramatic if you asked him it wasn’t like it was bloody or gruesome. He just extinguished his soul. Blew it out like a candle flame. The light just went out. That’s all.) -_ but he still stepped forward and angled his body slightly, as if blocking their siblings.  
_(Shielding them, rather. From him. Luther thinks he needs to protect them from him. Isn’t that cute? Or at least it would be if it wasn’t so **insulting**.)_

Diego had drawn a knife and absentmindedly turned it over and over in his hand. Confusion and horror fought each other in his eyes. He didn’t look away from Klaus.  
_(He’s going to throw it at him. It’s going to stab into him and his own blood will drip down his clothes like gruesome rain. It’ll stain his clothes just like it’s staining the clothes of that woman staring at him (why is she staring at him?) and he’ll die, he’ll die just like B- just like Him and he’ll become a ghost and scream forever with no one to hear and his voice will break as the wounds will bleed and it’ll never stop and HE’LL BE ONE OF THEM-)_  
Focus. Calm.

None of his siblings noticed the quickening of his breath as he observed each of them in turn. _(They never did)_

Allison was poised, ready to run, but she wasn’t facing towards or glancing at the door. _(She never was one to run when she got scared.)_ She looked like she just wanted to rush over to Klaus and envelope him like he imagined she hugged Claire when she had a bad day.  
_(Okay, but he’s never been good at reading people, and maybe she’d wrap him in a hug only to whisper a rumour in his ear and do god knows what to him. Maybe she’d say she blew his mind and turn his brains into an explosive mess. Five said she did it before, in the 60’s apocalypse that wasn’t.)_

Speaking of Five, he had his hands in his pockets and was leaning against the wall. When he noticed Klaus looking at him, the corner of his mouth curled up ever so slightly. Not in a smile, but in a sort of sad mutual understanding.  
_(An understanding of the loss Klaus was feeling and an understanding that he too would kill for his family. If he thought Klaus was dangerous, or threatened other members of the family, or could cause the apocalypse, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him, not for a second. Understanding doesn’t mean trust. It doesn’t mean safe.)_

Vanya was the only one out of them that didn’t have a trace of fear or anger on her face. Horror, yes, - _(was it really that monstrous, what he did?)_ \- but out of all of them only she knew what it was like to totally lose control of her powers and k- hurt others. Oh, Five had assassinated plenty for The Comission, but that was all carefully calculated. He hadn’t so much as touched a hair on the head of anyone he didn’t mean to. Vanya? She had let out all her emotions through her powers in a furious, uncontrolled blast. She had let go.  
_(Surely that makes her even more dangerous than the others, though. After all, once she realises what he did to her brothe- to that **thing** that mimicked Him she might channel her grief onto Klaus. Either on purpose or by accident. It wouldn’t matter.)_

He was jolted out of his thoughts when someone spoke.  
‘What?’  
He didn’t recognise the voice at first. It was hoarse and cracked and rasped like someone dragging their fingertips across sandpaper. He licked his lips _(when did they get so dry and cracked?)_ and realised as he shut his mouth that it was his. He wondered briefly why he said that _(he knew what happened and was all too aware of why they were staring at him as if he was a hungry wild animal about to maul them)_ , but what else could he say? _’Oh yeah, don’t mind me, just ripping out people’s souls, **only because he deserved it,** I’ll be on my way now’?_  
They locked up Vanya after she lost control and killed Harold Jenkins. _(They’ll do the same to him.)_  
No, Vanya wouldn’t let them.  
_(The terror in her eyes say otherwise.)_  
His hands were still shaking, but he didn’t know anymore if it was in exhaustion or _fear._ How ironic that, in this instance, he and his siblings were afraid of each other. __

__

‘Klaus?’ Diego stepped forward, shooting a brief glare at Luther as he stepped around him. _I don’t need your protection,_ it said. Was he the one that had said his name the first time? Maybe. He didn’t know. It didn’t really matter. Diego was still speaking.

__

‘Klaus, what did you do?’  
Five scoffed behind him. ‘Isn’t it obvious? His powers-‘  
‘I meant a little more specifically, Five, because, believe it or not, you don’t actually know everything. Isn’t that a shock? So unless you can explain what the hell we all just saw, maybe let me handle this. It’s not like any of you have seen him for years, even before Five dropped us all in Dallas to fend for ourselves. You all hadn’t seen him for years before dad’s funeral.’  
‘Oh, and you saw him regularly, did you?’ Five snapped back.  
‘I saw him more than you did.’ _He was still flipping the knife in his hand._  
Five was silent at that.

__

Diego sneered slightly and turned back to Klaus, who was watching with widened eyes. His whole body was trembling and buzzing now, and he hunched into himself protectively, still clasping his hands into his chest. His eyes swept across all of them as he stumbled for words.  
‘I-’

__

_(The loose thing inside him had gone back into place, but it didn’t quite fit into wherever it was. It wasn’t hidden anymore, and he felt it as it twitched slightly. A wave of anger rolled over him. He doesn’t owe his family any kind of explanation, not when they’re one startled movement away from attacking him like a pack of ghosts and ripping him limb from limb.)_

__

Vanya let out a soft breath as she saw the change in his demeanour. ‘Klaus-’ she tried to say. She probably thought she understood. Maybe she did. Always the mediator. _(Or maybe it was a trap.)_  
His eyes shuttered across and his expression turned into a frozen, blank mask. He straightened up to his full height but kept his hands clasped against his chest.  
_’I only gave it what it deserved. What He deserved.’ **(Yes.)**_ The words ripped out of him savagely. _(They were right. He only did what was necessary. How it felt was secondary. Even if it felt better than any high he’d ever had.)_

__

He’d forgotten the other ones - _(replacements fakes frauds fakes fakes. The words scratched at the walls of his head over and over again, like a broken record.)_  
‘What the hell is that supposed to mean.’  
Well what do you know, they care that he killed their Be- imposter. The others stepped forward slightly, aggressively. _(The thing inside him shifted in...excitement? Anticipation? He could feel the tentacles of energy starting to turn into a seething mass in their agitation, crawling over and under each other and wrapping around. They wanted **out.)**_

__

‘I will handle this, Number Three.’  
Allison flinched at the sound of that cold voice saying her number even though Hargreeves _(not their dad anymore, and thank the little girl on the bike for that)_ wasn’t talking to her. He felt _it_ again as it shifted uncomfortably at the sound of _that bastard’s_ voice.  
_(Just the sound of it made Klaus want to choke him until he was so close to death that the spirits hovering around the walls flickered to- well, not to life - in front of Reggie’s eyes. He wanted to see his expression change as they got so close to him that their blood dripped onto his clothes in a muted, washed out red that would never come out because it wasn’t really there. He wanted him to smell the sweet, sickening mix of rotting flesh and graveyard flowers, bouquets and bones, and he wanted him to hear the broken, rasping screams of the ones that refused to accept their fate.)_

__

‘No no, daddy dearest, let them have their own opinions. I was worried they’d be like Luther-’ he heard Luther shift behind him (though he couldn’t tell if it was in anger and indignation or in guilt), and he silently admitted that he had gotten better - _’but it’s so much more exciting if you let them be angry.’_  
He couldn’t help himself from trying to rile them up even though he didn’t know which of their buttons to press. He was pretty good at guessing that sort of thing. The _thing_ inside him twitched maliciously as he added that last part. _(It **is** more exciting, and it feels good, to be in control of the chaos he causes.)_

__

One of them stepped forward at his snide remark. The others _(the other ones, other thieves, stealing from him and his siblings, how can he let them get away with that?)_ tensed behind him, like springs coiling up before they’re released. Fighters, ready to pounce into action as soon as Reginald gave the word. How cute. _(How pathetic.)_

__

Vanya coughed slightly behind him. ‘Uh... guys? I’m no expert in the fighting situations but... on a hunch... I kind of think we should deal with what just happened later and run now.’

__

Klaus just _knew_ that Diego opened his mouth to argue back but instead he just heard him hiss in a sharp breath in pain. He turned around and saw Diego holding his arm and glaring at Allison. He quirked an eyebrow at her. She shrugged. He grinned, but their silent conversation was interrupted by _them.  
_(imposters, frauds, fakes like he was, pretending to be his siblings, they should pay for that, oh let them pay it feels so good-)_  
(He would.  
Only to protect his family of course.  
Not because it felt good.  
That was secondary.)_

____

He turned back to face them again and realised that he had stopped trembling. At least, he had stopped trembling on the outside. Inside, that _thing_ shook in anticipation. _(In glee)_ Adrenaline rushed through him, chasing away the weak feeling left behind. _(He never has to be weak again. He can do whatever he wants to them. To anyone. He can do anything.)_

____

Someone grabbed his hand and shouted a sharp _**NO**_ in his ear, interrupting his train of thought, and before he could pull away he was being dragged into a run next to his siblings.  
Oh, god, what had he been about to do? _(He knows exactly what he been about to do. Put out their lights. Their souls. Like they deserved...?)_ He tried to shut out those thoughts. They clawed at his brain and whispered in his ear like ghosts but he tried to concentrat on running even though he had started shaking again. He was shaking so hard his teeth chattered against each other like a windup toy. 

____

And so, trembling, suspicious and terrified of each other, the Umbrella Academy put one foot in front of the other and ran like the apocalypse was still snapping at their heels.   
After all, God wouldnt be too happy if She had to send them back. 

____

**Author's Note:**

> Was the pacing okay? I wasn’t sure how happy I was with how this chapter turned out which is why I didn’t post it sooner.
> 
> If you have any advice, criticisms, mistakes you noticed or there’s anything you liked please comment and tell me!  
> Also if there are any specific details or plot lines or ideas you saw in this or in the oneshot that you’d want to see developed more please say, I’d love to make sure I include things you want to see :)


End file.
